The evening, I chopped up yet another Ridgerest closed-cell foam pad into a torso-shaped pad. This version weighed in at 103 grams - 3.63 ounces. The dimensions are similar to BackpackingLight.com's Torsolite, which a) will be back in stock soon; and b) has been selling like hotcakes recently on BPL's gear trade forum.
This is my second attempt at hacking down a CCF pad into a torso-shaped bundle. My first attempt still exists - it is rectangular at 29.5x19.5 and about ~5.4 oz. When I saw that BPL was going to get more TorsoLites in stock, I through about the unused pad on my sides, especially flanking by buttocks. So I hacked this one down and lost almost 2 oz.It's going out for its first test this weekend, somewhere in Minnesota that lacks mosquitoes. When I return, I imagine I'll cut a concave curve into the sides near my true waist to chop out even more unused pad. Until then, the pad will stay nicely above 100 grams.
As a final note, the only company that sells torso-length pads is GossamerGear. Unmodified, these pads weigh in at 3.5-3.8 oz, and are also rectangular. Not too shabby.
3 comments:
I love my Gossamer Gear NightLight™ Sleeping Pad. I had not thought of tapering it until now. How many torso sized pads can you cut from one Ridgerest?
My pad is 29.5 inches long. A standard length Ridgerest is 72 inches, so you can get two torso pads out of a single pad.
I got the tapering idea from viewing BackpackingLight.com's latest iteration of its Torsolite, an inflatable foam sleeping pad that is 17x12x32.
Terrific modifications! This is one of the biggest benefits to using a foam camping pad - you get more leeway in modifying and tailoring it to your own personal style than you would on more involved pads, like air-filled cushions.
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